Who would win in a fight, Magneto or Iron Man? Namor or The Thing? Pixie or Squirrel Girl? Such is the premise of AVX VS, a new six-issue spin-off of April's Avengers Vs. X-Men miniseries, which features the heroes at loggerheads over the Phoenix's return to Earth.

We heard hints of this project at the New York Comic-Con and we know that Cable is squaring off…
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Earlier this afternoon, io9 participated in a conference call with Marvel editors Axel Alonso, Tom Brevoort, and Nick Lowe. Each issue of AVX VS will feature two stories that tease out the snippets of brawls seen in the core AVX series. As Marvel editor Tom Brevoort opined, "This is the uncut heroin of the event." He further elaborated:

It is literally the fight book [...] Not a lot of long walks through the avenues, a lot of introspection and conversation, or sitting around tables! Page One has somebody punching somebody, the last page has somebody shooting somebody else in the face.

Each issue of AVX VS features two one-on-one battles in exotic locales around the Marvel Universe. The dual creative teams for this book will be writer Jason Aaron and artist Adam Kubert (who will be illustrating Iron Man versus Magneto in AVX VS #1) and writer Kathryn Immonen and her husband Stuart on artwork (Namor versus The Thing).

The editors further hinted that they would not stray from fan favorite fights (Rogue versus Ms. Marvel, perhaps) and the oddball pick (the aforementioned potential battle between Pixie and Squirrel Girl). Other possible combatants that were bandied around included Jessica Jones, Colossus, Thor, Storm, Beast, and Wolverine.

The editors further hinted that there will be shifting allegiances among the heroes. Stalwart X-Men may find themselves siding with the Avengers, and certain Avengers may sympathize with the mutants. Elaborated Brevoort:

There will be moments where Avengers break ranks, may be more sympathetic to the X-Men, may shift over to the X-Men's point of view, and vice versa. Wolverine, Beast and Storm [...] are most immediately conflicted because they're at the heart of this, but Avengers like Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, and Ms. Marvel may find empathy with the X-Men at given points in this story.

The editors weren't willing to entirely divulge the 12-brawl fight card, but I'm pulling for a six-way death match consisting of Dazzler, Stevie Hunter, and Doop versus Jarvis, Darkhawk, and Rick Jones' guitar.